All that was necessary five and twenty years ago was to abolish the
delusion which justified the right of serfdom, and public opinion as
to what was praiseworthy and what was discreditable changed, and life
changed also. All that is now requisite is to annihilate the
delusion which justifies the power of money over men, and public
opinion will undergo a change as to what is creditable and what is
disgraceful, and life will be changed also; and the annihilation of
the delusion, of the justification of the moneyed power, and the
change in public opinion in this respect, will be promptly
accomplished. This delusion is already flickering, and the truth
will very shortly be disclosed. All that is required is to gaze
steadfastly, in order to perceive clearly that change in public
opinion which has already taken place, and which is simply not
recognized, not fitted with a word. The educated man of our day has
but to reflect ever so little on what will be the outcome of those
views of the world which he professes, in order to convince himself
that the estimate of good and bad, by which, by virtue of his
inertia, he is guided in life, directly contradict his views of the
world.

All that the man of our century has to do is to break away for a
moment from the life which runs on by force of inertia, to survey it
from the one side, and subject it to that same standard which arises
from his whole view of the world, in order to be horrified at the
definition of his whole life, which follows from his views of the
world. Let us take, for instance, a young man (the energy of life is
greater in the young, and self-consciousness is more obscured). Let
us take, for instance, a young man belonging to the wealthy classes,
whatever his tendencies may chance to be.